Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Hungarian-Brazilian relations are being placed on new foundations

April 18, 2019 10:19 AM

“Hungarian-Brazilian foreign policy and economic relations are being placed on totally new foundations”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday in Budapest.

At a joint press conference following a meeting with Chairman of Brazilian parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee Eduardo Bolsonaro, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted: “There have been significant political changes in Brazil recently, and the country is playing and extremely important role in world politics and the global economy. Accordingly, we have adopted a joint strategy according to which, within the field of economic relations, we will be concentrating on agricultural technologies, water management and the health industry, will be tightening research cooperation, and will be further increasing the number of Brazilian students receiving state scholarships to attend Hungarian universities”.

“Bilateral trade flow is continuously increasing, in addition to which Eximbank has opened a 415-million-euro credit line to enable Hungarian enterprises to cooperate with their Brazilian partners as effectively as possible”, Mr. Szijjártó noted. “A good foundation for the development of economic relations is provided by the fact that the leadership of both countries represent a similar standpoint on important political and strategic issues”, the Minister said, adding: “Migration is one such issue. Brazil and Hungary both voted no to the Global Compact for Migration, and both countries are reserving the right to decide for themselves who they allow onto their territory”. “Both countries regard the representation of Christian values as important, in addition to which they regard national interests as the primary criteria when making foreign policy decisions”, he indicated.

“Hungary’s room for manoeuvre is also significantly increased if there are countries that share its position on important issues, and such determining issues currently include migration, the protection of Christian values, and putting national interests in first place”, he said. “Bilateral cooperation provides a good foundation for human relations. 250 Brazilian students are currently being afforded state scholarships to attend Hungarian universities, and we have decided to draw up a plan for the maintenance of Brazil's Benedictine-run Hungarian school, in view of the fact that there is a significant Hungarian community living in Brazil”, the Foreign Minister also told reporters.

Eduardo Bolsonaro spoke about the fact that there have indeed been important changes, as a result of which Brazil is looking for new partners. He thanked Hungary for its support of Brazil, for the scholarships and economic cooperation, and for the fact that the country has opened itself to improving relations with Latin America. “The exercising of influence by George Soros is also not welcome in Brazil”, he noted.